Warm weather means fun outside, and for those of us that are a little more traditional, it also brings sun tea.
Now, you could do this in a traditional way: in a specialised container with a spout and lid. There is nothing wrong with this way. In fact, it’s probably the easiest way to get the tea out of the pitcher when you’re done. The spout really is fantastic for that.
Another option is to do it the cheap way, which is often whatever jars you have available. This is often a popular way to do this in college. Just make sure you have the lids on or bugs get in it. While the extra protein may amuse little boys, it’s not for everyone.
Then of course there is the Insanitekian way of doing sun tea, which is with a chemistry set. OK, just part of a chemistry set.
First, what you’ll need to scrounge around for is an Erlanmeyer flask with a stopper. These basic lab items are used for a variety of things, as per the Wikipedia description,
Erlanmeyer flask
Erlenmeyers are used in chemistry labs for titration, e.g. for pH, as they can be held and the contents mixed single-handed leaving the other hand free to add reagent.[5] Erlenmeyer flasks are extremely useful in the lab setting for stirring the contents by hand by swirling the flask, as the tapered neck prevents spillage of the contents.
Erlenmeyer flasks are suitable for heating liquids, e.g. with a Bunsen burner.
So, it stands to reason that we could use it for some delicious sun tea.
Our method, which makes more than enough tea to share with the whole Insanitek team (and probably a lot more than that). Here’s the directions:
We’re making sun tea in the very small Insanitek garden.
What you’ll need:
1 4000mL Erlanmeyer flask
1 food safe rubber stopper
Coffee filter(s)
6 tea bags or enough loose leaf tea to equal 6 tea bags worth
Heavy thread, fishing line, or some sort of string
Sewing needle
4000mL of Water
Fill the flask up to the 4000mL line with cold, filtered water. Take six tea bags put them inside of a coffee filter, and sew the coffee filter shut with a long piece of thread that’ll also serve as a string to pull out the teabags with. Stuff the bags through the neck of the flask, leaving the long tail of thread hanging on the outside. Stopper and move to a sunny area for several hours. On warm days, it’ll take less time.
